In the past, gaming machines with mechanical spinning reels have been driven by spring loaded mechanisms that are released by pulling the handle of the gaming machine. A characteristic of this type of mechanism is that the reels stop spinning on a random basis and thus, the outcomes of the games played are also random. More recently, spinning reels have been driven by stepper motors that enable the stop position of the reels and, therefore, the allocation of payouts to be accurately controlled. In addition, electronic gaming machinery is now being used to simulate reels on display screens that appear to a player to be spun and stopped using computer generated graphics. However players are still attracted to, and enjoy playing, gaming machines having mechanical reels.